The Rise of Canadian Comfort Food in the Big Apple

Canadian staples like smoked meat with fries and cheese are migrating to Manhattan. The arrival of Acadian cuisine is just gravy.

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Poutine râpée with radish, cremini mushroom and carrot jus from King Bee.CreditMichael McCarthy

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King Bee’s backyard garden.CreditLauren Poggi

Over the past few years, New Yorkers dissatisfied with small-plate politeness have found a welcome alternative in the meat-and-potatoes fare of Montreal-influenced dishes. Diners hungry for poutine (a delicious hot mess of French fries, melting cheese curds and brown gravy), rabbit pappardelle or pickled pig’s tongue only had to look as far as Mile End, a Canadian-Jewish deli known for its stacked sandwiches; French Louie, a bistro named after a 19th-century Adirondack mule driver; and M. Wells, the critically beloved — but now defunct — diner. Thanks to the success of these outer-borough hits, Canada-gazing restaurateurs are now getting more geographically adventurous. This fall, food from the eastern region of Acadia (home to some of the first French settlers in the Americas and the origin of the term “Cajun”) will come to Manhattan in the form of KingBee, a new restaurant operated by the former Herbsaint co-owner Ken Jackson, the mixologist Eben Klemm and the chef Jeremie Tomczak. The menu includes riffs on French-Canadian classics (lamb neck poutine) and New Orleans staples (gumbo and crawfish), fusing coastal Canadian with country Louisiana and lending even more culinary legitimacy to the Great White North.